Spot repair, reroute or repipe

Spot repair means opening the slab at the leak, repairing that section and patching the concrete. It is the least disruptive option and the right answer when the rest of the system is sound and this is a first failure.

Rerouting abandons the failed line and runs a new one overhead through walls and the attic, bypassing the slab entirely. It avoids breaking concrete and removes that run from future risk. It costs more than a spot repair and involves some drywall work.

Repiping replaces the affected system wholesale. This becomes the sensible answer when a property has had repeated slab leaks, because each one is evidence the pipe is failing generally rather than at one unlucky point.

Anyone quoting one of these without discussing the others is not giving you the full picture. Which is right depends on pipe material, age, how many failures you have had, and what access exists for an alternative route.

Insurance and slab leaks

We are not able to advise on your policy, and coverage varies considerably. What we can tell you is the distinction insurers commonly draw: sudden and accidental damage is generally treated differently from damage resulting from a leak that had been ongoing and could reasonably have been noticed.

Many policies also treat the cost of accessing the leak, breaking and repairing the slab, differently from the cost of repairing the pipe itself. Those can be separate line items in a claim.

What helps in every case is documentation. We can provide a clear record of what was found, where, and what was repaired, which is generally what an adjuster asks for. Raising it with your carrier early rather than after the work is usually the better order.